Hiccup hadn't expected Astrid to be shaking him awake.
"What?" he asked, sitting up and then standing up. "What are you doing here?"
"Kidnapping you," said Astrid as if it were obvious.
"You're kidnapping me?" asked Hiccup.
"Yep," said Astrid. "Are you coming or not?"
"Well, maybe, but it might help if I actually knew what I was coming for," said Hiccup, grabbing his shield from where it leaned up against the wall before strapping it around his back. "Care to explain?"
"Ahh, no," said Astrid. "Come on. The others are waiting for us at the cove."
"My Dad's not going to like me going out this time of night," said Hiccup. "Maybe I could tell him-"
"I've already cleared it with him earlier yesterday afternoon," said Astrid.
"You cleared it with him to allow you to kidnap me?" he asked.
She punched him on the shoulder.
"OW!" he yelled in protest. "What is it with you and the punching?"
She punched him again. "THAT'S for asking!" she said.
"Aaaaand this is why I always have a constant bruise on my shoulder," said Hiccup, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Seriously though, Astrid, I think you have some explaining to do before we go-where are we going? This is all really really-borderline awkward."
"Like I said, the others are waiting for us at the cove," said Astrid.
"It's not exactly what you said, it's what you haven't said," said Hiccup.
"Come on," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the window.
"Why not take the front door?" asked Hiccup.
"Because that's too easy," said Astrid. "I'm kidnapping you, remember?"
"Aaaand the awkwardness continues," said Hiccup. "Toothless isn't going to be too happy about this, either."
"Cleared it with him as well," said Astrid. "He's at the cove waiting with the other dragons and riders."
"This is why you and I have trust issues," said Hiccup. "You never explain anything."
She grabbed his arm tighter before jumping out the window, Hiccup in tow. They landed in thick bush, muffling their fall.
"That could have gone far worse," said Astrid.
"It could have gone a lot better, too," said Hiccup, standing up from where they fell. "Remind me again why we didn't use the front door?"
Astrid grabbed his arm again and began pulling him away from the village.
"You gonna explain now?" asked Hiccup.
"Probably not," said Astrid.
"Astrid; so predictable," he mumbled. "Did you bring any means of transportation? A good kidnapper always has some way to escape quickly."
"Yeah, and I've got mine," said Astrid. She whistled, loudly. Her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly, flew down and landed in front of her and Hiccup.
Astrid jumped on her back and Hiccup jumped on behind her. Stormfly took off, heading towards the cove.
"Who else is involved in my 'kidnapping'?" asked Hiccup.
"All the kids from the Academy, along with all the dragons," said Astrid. "Including me. I was step one to the plan. My job was to nab you in your sleep."
"Great," said Hiccup sarcastically. "Target; Dragon Boy in his sleep. Couldn't you have at least waited until morning?"
"It's not as fun if it's in broad daylight," said Astrid.
"Remember, Astrid, I'm going to be Chief someday, and I'll remember this," he said, a mix between a threat and a joke.
"Doesn't make a difference right now," said Astrid.
"I also have the shield," said Hiccup.
"Okay, that makes a difference right now!" shouted Astrid. "You are a victim. You are not supposed to be armed!"
"You were the one who let me grab it," said Hiccup.
"You always grab it," said Astrid. "I just overlooked it."
"Do you even know what time it is?" asked Hiccup.
"Probably around midnight."
"Perfect. You struck at midnight because it was more dra-ma-tic."
"Exactly. Plus the full moon makes it especially creepy."
"Be even more creepy if your transportation was a Boneknapper."
"Or a Skrill."
"Could you do that?"
"Sounds hard."
"How about a Scauldron?"
"What about a Whispering Death?"
"You know that would never work. Whispering Deaths plunge into the ground as soon as anything bright hits them."
"Good point. Timberjack."
"Oooh, spooky."
"How about a Red Dea-"
"Don't," Hiccup interrupted. "You know I hate talking about it."
"Sorry," said Astrid. "Sometimes you have to wonder, though. What if there was another one of them out there?"
"Thank you, Astrid, for that image because I clearly haven't had enough bad experiences with the Red Death before and now need to worry that there is another one lurking away somewhere."
"I'm just wondering."
"Please, stop talking about it now, alright? You're supposed to be kidnapping me, remember? Can we just leave it at that?"
"Right."
Stormfly continued to the cove. Neither Astrid nor Hiccup found anything worth saying, so they kept quiet most of the flight. Hiccup just couldn't stop thinking, though. Another Red Death? Was that even possible? He hoped not.
"Sorry," said Hiccup. "I mean-you know how it is. It was scary."
"I know," said Astrid. "I'm sorry, too. Oh, look, the cove!" she said it enthusiastically, trying to change the subject. "Stormfly, down!"
Stormfly flew down and landed in the cove. Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout were standing, their dragons by their sides. As soon as Hiccup dismounted, Toothless ran over and attacked Hiccup with a series of happy grunts and licks.
"Toothless!" Hiccup groaned. "That is disgusting!"
"We are treacherous kidnappers who do, uh, treachery, while-kidnapping, uh-you," said Tuffnut. "UGH! Can someone else explain this? I'm awful."
"Let me try," said Ruffnut, shoving Tuffnut to the side and approaching Hiccup. "We are here to-to-what are we here for again?" she asked, turning to Astrid, who was currently facepalming.
"Remember?" asked Astrid. "The plan?"
"Oh, right-what was the plan again?" asked Tuffnut.
"You guys don't ever pay attention, do you?" asked Fishlegs.
"Not unless there's fire involved," said Tuffnut. "And even then it's like a maybe."
"Am I the only one who's confused?" asked Hiccup.
"No," said Tuffnut. "I'm lost in a sea of-water. AHHG! I can't even do a metaphor right!"
"I didn't think you knew what that was," said Ruffnut.
"Who said I knew did?"
"Well that fact that you used it properly in a sense tells us that you are capable of the definition," said Hiccup.
"I-don't know what that means," said Tuffnut.
"Yeah, me neither," said Ruffnut.
"Guys, back to the kidnapping!" shouted Astrid.
"Right," said Snotlout. "Is this the part where we take him?"
"You've already done that," said Hiccup.
"No, we mean-to the secret hiding place," said Tuffnut, making his voice sound as suspicious as possible.
"Okay, can someone please tell me what's going on?" asked Hiccup. "Where does an explanation fit into this expedition?"
"Should we tell him?" asked Fishlegs.
"What if we just knock him out and pretend nothing happened?" asked Tuffnut.
"That could work," said Ruffnut.
"Uhh, guys, I'm right here," said Hiccup.
"We wanted to get an early start," said Astrid.
"On the kidnapping?" asked Hiccup.
"No, Dragon Boy," said Astrid. "Happy birthday."
"Happy-what?" asked Hiccup.
"Yeah, happy birthday," said Astrid. "That's why we brought you wanted to have, y'know-the whole day just to spend."
"But my birthday isn't until tomorrow," said Hiccup.
"We know that, Hiccup," said Snotlout, "but if I am correct you were born on the one day where it only comes every few years."
"Right," said Hiccup. "February twenty ninth; the extra day in a Leap year."
"Yep, trust the weirdest boy to be born on the weirdest day," said Snotlout.
"I'll take that as a compliment," said Hiccup.
"Mmm hmm," said Astrid. "Normally we celebrate your birthday March first, but kidnapping you then wouldn't have been fun, because you would have been expecting it."
"But this time," said Tuffnut, "we did it-" he paused for dramatic effect, "-secretly."
"Well, I don't know if I should be appreciated, or a little-creeped out," said Hiccup.
"I think it's a little bit of both if you ask me," said Snotlout.
"So, how old are you now?" asked Astrid. "Eighteen?"
"I don't know," said Hiccup. "There's only been five leap years since I was born, so wouldn't I technically be five?" He joked.
"Yeah yeah, five," said Astrid, punching him on the shoulder. "So..." she mused, "what should we do to start out with?"
"I don't know," said Hiccup. "I thought you had it planned out."
"Actually, we never thought we would get this far," said Snotlout. "We only planned up to the time when we kidnapped you. After that it's all a little hazy."
"Oookay," said Hiccup. "Um...any ideas, because I am open for suggestions?"
"We could have a quick race," said Ruffnut. "A quick, treacherous, dangerous-dragon race."
"Yeah!" shouted Tuffnut. He and his sister banged their heads together like they did while in triumph.
"I don't have a better idea," said Hiccup. "Shall we?"
"Why not?" said Astrid, jumping on Stormfly. The rest of them mounted their dragons and stood in an orderless line.
"Ready?" asked Hiccup.
"GO!" yelled Ruffnut and Tuffnut in unison. Their dragon shot into the sky.
"Wait-what!?" shouted Hiccup. He looked up, watching the twins and their Zippleback slowly zoom into the air. "I guess the race has started!"
The remaining dragons and their riders shot into the cloudless, midnight sky.
"First one to land on the outskirts of Changewing island wins!" shouted Snotlout.
They blasted off equally fast, their dragons struggling to win.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were easily outrun by the other dragons and their riders, mainly because they kept fighting about which direction they were going in.
"Left!" shouted Tuffnut.
"No right!" shouted Ruffnut. "No wait-left!"
"Okay, right!" yelled Tuffnut. Their Zippleback spun in and out of control while Snotlout and Astrid took the lead.
"Hookfang, annihilate!" shouted Snotlout. The Monstrous Nightmare lit himself on fire, breathing flames towards Astrid and her Nadder. Stormfly steered out of the way just before the fire singed her.
"Fine," said Astrid. "If that's how it's gonna be, then let the games begin. Stormfly, spine shot!" she shouted commands to her dragon. Stormfly flicked her tail, sending spines flying towards Hookfang and Snotlout.
"HEY!" shouted Snotlout as soon as Hookfang dodged each of the spines.
"It was her idea," Astrid gestured to her dragon. "But I approved!" she added with a smug grin before blasting ahead of Snotlout.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut managed to catch up with Snotlout and Hookfang.
"Barf, Belch, light!" they shouted in unison to their dragons. The dragons obeyed the command, firing at Snotlout. Hookfang managed to dodge most of the blast, but still was angry.
"Hookfang, light! Wing blast!" shouted Snotlout. Hookfang lit on fire, breathed a bunch of it into the air, and then spread his wings before flapping them, blasting the fire towards the twins.
"AWESOME!" shouted Tuffnut. "THIS IS AWESOME AND SCARY!"
The fire singed the ends of their hair and smeared their faces almost completely black.
"Whoa, we almost died," said Ruffnut.
"I know," said Tuffnut. "Go again!?"
"YEAH!" shouted Ruffnut, banging her head up against her brother's.
Astrid was way ahead of Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs, who was in the very back since he had the slowest dragon. The only person Astrid didn't recall passing was Hiccup and Toothless.
That's when she heard the screech of a certain Night Fury. Before she saw where it was coming from, a plasma blast exploded in front of her. Stormfly screeched, spiking random spines everywhere.
Hiccup and Toothless flew ahead of Astrid.
"Hey!" shouted Astrid as she fought to catch up to them. "What was THAT for!?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" said Hiccup, smiling as Toothless sped ahead. Astrid humphed before leaning over Stormfly's head. Hiccup was the only person she didn't mind losing to for two reasons. 1) he didn't rub it in, and 2) he didn't keep going on and on and on about it. If there were a third reason, it would be 3) that way Snotlout didn't win. When Snotlout won, he just wouldn't stop talking about how much better he was.
In truth, it was impossible for any other dragon to win a race against a Night Fury. The problem was, Hiccup didn't care about winning, thereby letting others get ahead of him and allowing them to win without him telling them he did. He did that during Thawfest; he threw the race when he had it in the bag. He let Snotlout continue being Thawfest champion. She wished for once he would win, but she told him before he didn't care if he won or lost.
Although he did like at least a little competition with no pressure, no prize, and no fighting.
He sped ahead with Astrid right beside him. Toothless wasn't at top speed yet, and already Astrid's Nadder was having a problem keeping up. Astrid looked behind her to see Snotlout and the twins gaining.
Hiccup looked behind and followed her eyes.
"Changewing island, they said?" he asked her.
"Yeah," said Astrid.
"Could they have chosen anything different?" asked Hiccup. "I mean, we haven't really had very good experiences with the Changewings."
"Yeah," said Astrid. "Maybe we should restart the race?"
"Snotlout would never do that," said Hiccup. "Neither would Ruffnut, or Tuffnut, for that matter. We should probably stay with them, y'know, just in case?"
"Yeah, we probably should," Astrid agreed. "So...do you have anything planned for today?"
"Not really," said Hiccup. "I was thinking about a few things, though. There has been some volcanic activity I've been noticing on an island while flying with Toothless. I was thinking maybe we could check it out sometime, maybe."
"Which island?" asked Astrid.
"THE island," said Hiccup. "Merciless."
Astrid suppressed a shudder. She knew what THAT island was, and also how much Hiccup hated it. But he often let curiosity take its toll on him. Curiosity killed the viking, she remembered the old saying, but didn't mention it.
"Are you sure you want to go-there?" asked Astrid.
Hiccup shook his head. "No, I'm not sure," he said. "But-it's for exploration. Maybe-we could go sometime-maybe later?"
Astrid nodded. He looked uncertain, and even thinking about Merciless made her skin crawl, especially when he mentioned ever returning there. She was still terrified of the place, even after nearly two years.
"Changewing island," said Hiccup as said island came into view. "Come on, bud, let's finish this."
Toothless blasted off quickly, leaving Astrid and her Nadder far behind. Toothless flew towards the outskirts to the island and landed, kicking sand up as he did. The rest of the riders filed in.
Stormfly landed second, Snotlout coming in third. Ruffnut and Tuffnut came in and landed their dragon.
"Yeah, I win!" shouted Ruffnut.
"No, I got here first!" shouted Tuffnut.
"Guys, same dragon," said Hiccup, slightly irritated that he kept having to remind them of the fact every other day. Fishlegs filed in last, only because he was the most careful, and also had the slowest dragon.
"Nice race, guys," said Hiccup. "Now, let's get off this island before the Changewings notice we're here."
No one argued. Changewings weren't to be messed with by a long shot, so they took to the air at once, spun over Changewing island to make sure they weren't being followed, and then headed back to Berk.
"What do we do now?" asked Astrid. "It's still kinda dark-we probably have a few more hours until sun rise."
"What do you suggest, milady?" asked Hiccup, grinning as Toothless flew beside Stormfly.
"We could-go to Breakneck Bog?" Astrid offered.
"Normally I would say yes, but last time we went to Breakneck Bog we were attacked by Smothering Smoke Breath dragons who steal metal," said Hiccup. "And Toothless and I wear a lot more metal than the rest of us."
Astrid nodded, unbeknownst to herself looking at Toothless' prosthetic tail and Hiccup's metal leg. She shook herself out of her thoughtful stare, looking ahead as if something very interesting just flew ahead of her.
Sooner than later, Berk was in view. It was still pitch black, but gaining light from the full moon that lit the night sky.
"Snowball fight?" asked Astrid as she and the other riders landed in the plaza, directly in front of the forge.
"That would be fun," Hiccup agreed, "except I'm still getting used to my prosthetic, and snowball fights are a hazard. An occupational hazard, when you don't have both your feet."
"Then we won't do it on the ground," said Snotlout, jumping off Hookfang and running into the forge. He came out with six empty bags, throwing one to each dragon rider and keeping one for himself. "We'll do it in the air." He filled his bag up with snow and mounted Hookfang. "Well? Coming or not?" he asked.
"This is a great idea!" shouted Astrid, leaning over Stormfly to scoop snow into her bag. "We'll do it over Raven Point. There's tons of snow there! See you then!" Stormfly and Hookfang took to the air, towards Raven Point.
Hiccup shook his head while smiling and laughing a little bit. "This is going to be hilarious."